Seasons don't fear the reaper

[controlsthedie]

Who: Thanatos & OTA
Where: sleeper/passenger car hallways, greenhouse, training gym
When: Kazoo, Day 2 or 3 (after Jack's "Musical" Mayhem, before dance)
What: Death is being a dork: chores, flower growing, sword practice
Warnings: none

Chores: Death approaches the dust

[ A new month means a new type of chore assignment, apparently. At least this one doesn't need someone coaching Thanatos on what to do. He takes to the passenger area first, dressed in the train's standard blue hoodie and cargo pants to keep his own stuff clean. (Zagreus wanted to wear red not blue, so Thanatos just gave him the spare red hoodie he had.) Floating towards the ceiling with a feather duster in his hand, Thanatos gets to work.

Thanatos may not have paid much attention to Dusa while she worked (or at all really...), but he knows that she was always up high dusting the rafters. Sorry if he startles anyone going through a door to see legs dangling down. He's dusting the top of the door frame. ]

Greenhouse: Thanatos's Poppy Pot has sprouted!

[ Done with chores for the time being, Thanatos has returned to his usual way of dressing (chthonic death god style) and is crouched low to the floor. Mort is perched at the edge of a pot. They stare at nine tiny points of green pushing out of the soil. Thanatos is smiling, awestruck. (An expression that wasn't as rare when he was a godling days ago.) ]

They sprouted… they actually sprouted....

[ Thanatos speaks softly as if he fears being too loud would bring destruction upon them. Green. Growth. Life. He thought they would never sprout. They would never grow. Yet, here they were. Poppies, his and Hypnos's shared symbol, growing in this pot. Nurtured by Death of all people. ]

What do you think, Mort? Do they need more water?

Training gym: Trying not to float like a butterfly

[ There should be a mission coming up soon, and Thanatos is determined not to have a repeat of the last time. He had lost his powers, his divinity, and had become useless. He would have been a liability if other passengers hadn't come to his aid.

Gods, if Thanatos froze like that while Zagreus needed his help.... No. That's not going to happen. He's going to make sure that he can still fight, still protect… well, more than just Zagreus. It's still strange to think that he's developing a new role for himself on this train.

He summons his sword, not his scythe, and sets his feet upon the ground. Thanatos starts with a few basic motions when he notices he has company. ]

Pardon me. I'm not taking too much space, am I?

Comments

[controlsthedie]

I'm probably not the best to commiserate with about how big the train is...

[ Without warning, Thanatos shifts to the other end of the car. Once the bell toll fades, he does float back to where he was originally. ]

I've been told I cheat.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ A bit surprised at first, she grins. ] Oh, so you can teleport? That's pretty cool.

I've got a few tricks too.

[controlsthedie]

Should I be worried about those tricks while we spar?

[ He doesn't know for who's concern he asks that. Still, he takes a ready stance. Whenever Kitty would like to start their sparring, they can. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

We'll see how it goes.

[ Drawing the sword from its sheath, she shifts into a fighting stance, getting herself ready. Then, after weighing her options for a moment, she swung the sword for the first strike. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ He blocks the strike easily, but he doesn't try to capitalize on the block. Instead, he pulls back and waits for another attack. Hopefully, Kitty isn't unnerved by his unblinking focus on her. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She is just a little unnerved when she notices, but she does her best to ignore it as she moves in for another attack, her mind racing through the different lessons that Trunks had given her to help try and find an opening. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ It's almost impressive how long Thanatos tries to go without going on the offensive. His footwork is stilted, but he manages to keep blocking. Finally, he feels like he understands enough about how she attacks. He tries to give a hard downward swing.

However, it also leaves him open because there's little flow between his movements. Thanatos aims for one-hit strikes to maximize killing potential while minimizing the pain his opponent feels. (He doesn't use his full strength in a spar against a human, though. He's trying to become more comfortable with technique.) A quick dodge will put him at a disadvantage. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She is able to see that opening, and steps to the side and out of his strike zone (while phasing just in case she's not fast enough), before swinging her sword again to try to hit him with the flat side of it. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos doesn't expect Kitty to move so fast. He tries to turn and block, but his feet slip. The flat side of the blade hits him solidly. The only reason he doesn't fall to the floor is that he caught himself by floating. Habits are hard to break. ]

... Well done.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ Though she keeps her sword raised, just in case, she does step back and relaxes her stance a little. ]

Thanks. You okay?

[ She knows she didn't hit him really hard, but she had noticed him stumble a little. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ It's one of the downsides of not wearing shoes and being naturally floaty. He's not as steady on his feet as he could be. ]

I'm fine. That was a good hit.

[ And he has learned something he needs to work on. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

Thanks.

[ Holding up the sword again, she smiles. ]

Ready for another go?

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos readies himself. ]

Let's try that again and see if the outcome is the same.

[ But this time, Thanatos tries to strike and then block soon after. Maybe not the smoothest transition between moves, but he's trying to link them together. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She hadn't quite expected him to attack right away, and just barely manages to block with her sword. She then swings to strike, despite him blocking as well, but she moves again to look for another opening. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ They seem to be sparring in earnest now even if Thanatos isn't flowing from move to move. His strikes are powerful, but he leaves an opening between each movement, each attack, each block. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

[ Kitty mostly takes the defensive this time, wanting to work on her blocking as well. She doesn't see all the openings, but she notices several of them, even if she doesn't follow through. She lets him get a little more used to fighting this way, let him find a rhythm he can work with.

Though as they continue she does eventually take a few swings at his unguarded spots. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ The longer Kitty lets him continue, the more his confidence builds and the less he worries about hurting her. Thanatos starts to experiment with his sword swings: changing the angle, the force behind them, the time between strikes, and other such minor changes. It leaves him with more openings, but he also tries to make up for those as well.

He blocks of few of Kitty's attempts at his unguarded spots, and Thanatos dodges away from others he can't block in time. He even manages to keep his feet on the ground. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She continues blocking his attacks while still trying to land one of her own. It gets a little harder as his confidence grows, but for the most part she's able to hold her own.

But one strike does throw her off guard, and she just manages to become intangible to let his sword pass through her so she wouldn't take the hit. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos freezes completely and quickly when he sees the blade move through Kitty's body. He doesn't sense her death, but he knows what he saw. ]

Are you all right?

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She breathes out a sigh, lowering her sword just a bit. ] Yeah, I'm good. Didn't quite avoid that strike fast enough, good job.

[controlsthedie]

I thought...

[ He makes a noise somewhere in between a sigh and frustration. ]

I think I'm done with sparring for now.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ A bit surprised, she nods a little and relaxes her stance. ]

Oh...okay, sure.

[ She takes a moment to re-sheath her sword. ]

...I'm okay, by the way. I have an ability that lets me phase through matter, so I used it to let the sword pass through me when I didn't have time to move out of the way. That's all that happened.

[controlsthedie]

You can go intangible like a shade?

[ He replays what he thought happened in his mind but pretends a shade is before him instead. While considered bad manners, the gods of the Underworld can move right through the shades as if they weren't there. (The shades are usually don't like that though, and they usually want to avoid Thanatos in general.)

A little bit of the tension in Thanatos's body eases. ]

That would explain what happened.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She nods a little. ] Yeah. [ Or at least she assumes so, given what she knows of shades. ] Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you or anything.

[controlsthedie]

It's... Forget about it. Thank you for the spar.

[ There's no need to worry her about his own insecurities, especially when she helped him learn something. ]